Fly-Tying Hair & Fur (2024)

FAQs

What is the best hair for tying flies? ›

Elk hair is perhaps the most useable of all hairs for fly tying. Whether from a bull, cow, or yearling elk, this versatile hair has a beautiful range of colors. I use elk in every application that I can, because it is so commonly available and generally durable and of good quality.

If you are a casual fly angler who fishes a dozen times a year and has a good local fly shop, I'd say fly tying is a poor investment. You will probably spend about $400 dollars to start fly tying if you're doing it right, and if you have good impulse control. You can buy a lot of flies for $400.

The article goes on to say that the cost of purchasing the needed vice, tools and materials would counter the savings of tying one's own flies.

Horses have also made a contribution to fly fishing, and fly tying over the years. Horsehair is also finding its way into modern flies. But it was not just any horsehair. The best material is from horses in Iceland.

Elk hair is much coarser and flares less than deer hair, which gives it good qualities for wings on bigger dries such as salmonfly or green drake imitations. Elk hair is also more durable than deer hair, which makes it good for tails on things like hare's ear nymphs or green drake dries.

Elk mane is very long, dark, and stiff, and makes great tails for dry flies. It can be used as a substitute on any pattern that calls for moose mane. Elk hock is similar in color but shorter and finer, so it is better for dark tails on smaller flies.

Fly tying is not cheap but if you consider that a fly would cost you $2.50 more to buy than tie after paying for hooks and materials; you have 120 flies or 10 dozen flies tied up in tools. At $450 in tools, it rises to 180 flies or 15 dozen flies store-bought flies. Of course your first few (many?)

Alternative fly tying materials like Fly fishing hooks, dubbing, feathers, beads, cones, tools, and more can be substituted and save a lot of money; if you know what you're doing.

It depends on the pattern, but I can tie between 9 flies an hour to 2 dozen in an hour. The Rubber Leg Tellico Nymph is one of my slowest since it has so many steps. Standard parachute patterns and beadheads are much faster.

Is fly tying difficult? ›

Fly tying is a craft, a skill learned over time. You don't start out being great at it, so don't be hard on yourself if you're not churning out beautiful patterns right away. You'll get better, trust me. The more you do it, and the more you enjoy it, the more proficient you'll become.

egg fly tying yarns have a high polyester content. The fiber is ideal for this purpose; colors can be great and reflectivity is not what's desired. Other common fibers such as rayons are weaker than polyester and lack qualities fly tyers seek. Polyester fibers can be soft, although not as soft as nylon.

The tail feathers of peaco*ck and pheasant have become a real fly tying classic, which is irreplaceable for many patterns of dry and wet flies. You can not do without these fly tying materials even in the production of modern nymphs. Peaco*ck feathers are the right choice for the creation of red tags and orange tags.

Streamers: Step-by-step fly tying instructions

This simple and minimal weighted streamer uses bucktail as its primary material. Like most bucktail flies, the Bucktail Baitfish offers fly tiers tremendous versatility in the range of sizes and colors it can be tied in.

Feathers from drake wood ducks, mallards, and green-winged teal are by far the most popular, mostly due to their coloration and abundance. The “lemon” flank feathers from a wood duck are prized for their color and barring.

Specialty Threads for Fly Tying. GSP (gel-spun polyethylene) threads are super slick, strong for their size, have very little stretch (3 percent), and lie flat on the hook.

Flies feed on dead cells and open wounds. Oily hair is an attractant. Less hairy skin gives the fly spaces to vomit. Some body-odours are more attractive to flies than others.

Whatever name you choose to call it, the Pitzen Knot it is an incredibly effective way to tie a fly to leader. It's kind of a reverse clinch knot, however it is many times stronger - the clinch is actually one of the weakest fly to tippet knots there is.